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Solenn Heusaff Takes Us To The Heart Of Samar: The Locals, The Biodiversity & How To Take It All In
The It Girl teaches how to make the most out of travels
Solenn Huessaff has been all around the world and you only need to check out her Instagram feed to get a major sense of wanderlust. But while France, Japan and Argentina are great, it’s her local destinations that we get a real sense of longing for—and her latest trip was nothing short of amazing.
Solenn in Samar
For a while now, Solenn was teasing us with picturesque photos of her latest local trip care of her Instagram account. Now we know that she visited Samar for #Scenezoned season 2 and the stories she has to tell are as heartwarming as they are eye-opening.
Getting lost in its beauty
45 minutes off the northwester tip of Samar is Biri Island, which lies in the space between the San Bernardino Straight and the Pacific Ocean. It isn’t exactly what you would call a tourist destination, but Solenn taught us that this doesn’t mean it isn’t worth visiting—quite the opposite, actually. You just need to find the right airline to get you there. For Solenn, it was a PAL-exclusive flight to Catarman.
The island is breathtaking and holds a simple and remote charm. You won’t see a Starbucks, or hardly any food-joints at all. You’ll be forced to mingle with the locals to get by but you’ll be thankful for the forced interaction.
Meeting the locals
Solenn spent a lot of her time meeting and conversing with Samar natives. She swam and played with the children at the Bel-At rock pool, went diving with the fishermen and essentially lived the life of a local. It was a stark difference to the travels we’re used to her seeing, but immersing herself in Samar is arguably what made the trip so memorable.
Getting up close and personal with the wildlife
Solenn also spent some time giving back to nature by joining the Biri Initiative, which is a project aimed to restoring the coral reefs around Biri Island. In 2001, the United Nations Environment Program reported that 97 percent of Philippine reefs were under threat of destruction. Then in 2007, the UN’s Reef Check Foundation determined that only 5 percent of our country’s reefs were in “excellent condition.”
It’s no wonder why Solenn decided to help the program and why it made her trip to Samar all the more meaningful.
Taking it all in
No matter how in the moment you want to be, you won’t be able to fight off the need to document your travels. As an artist, Solenn wanted to capture everything she saw and translate it to her art. So she took a few moments to really sit back, take it all in and take photos and videos when she could, which she did beautifully with the help of her Samsung Galaxy S8. And these images will be given new life when #SolennArt translates them onto a canvas—and we can’t wait to see the results.
Get the Samsung Galaxy S8 with Globe’s ThePLAN. And don’t forget to keep your eyes peeled for more of #Scenezoned season 2!
